Lubbock dream house made of 110 tons of steel

It’s one thing to hear about the incredible Robert Richard Bruno house, a Lubbock home made out of 110 tons of scrap metal. It’s quite another to turn a corner and have the 2,200-square-foot unique architectural structure come into view.

The three-story house overlooking Ransom Canyon was the lifelong project of Bruno, a Texas Tech College of Architecture professor. He began the home in 1974 and worked on it until his death in 2008 but he never saw it completed. He lived there for only seven months.

The house still needs 30 percent more work to be complete but it's unclear if this will happen. His daughter, Christina Bruno, owns the house but it’s Henry F. Martinez — who worked with Bruno for 22 years and took over Bruno’s company, P and R Surge Systems — that opens the house for tours, much as Bruno had when he was living. Martinez loves showing off the house and does so for architecture students, travel writers like me and for photo shoots. The uniquely styled house has been on record covers and in Vogue magazine, among others.

“He (Bruno) would always allow people to come in here to look at the house, even when he was here,” Martinez said. “And I’m trying to do the same.”

We visited this week with temperatures hitting 100, and a house made of all that steel gets pretty stifling inside. Once Martinez opened the front door and a small living room window that faces the lake, a breeze brought some relief. The Steel House with its curves and round windows resembles a hobbit enclave, but above ground as if on legs. There are twists and turns inside, stairs heading up and down the three levels, and stained glass for colorful accents. Once through the front door and down the entrance hall if you will, visitors emerge into the living room that jets over the canyon and offers a gorgeous view of Lake Ransom Canyon. On one side of the hallway is a small kitchen, the other the master bedroom with full bath and some of Bruno's furniture and items. Stairs lead down to a dark level where Bruno wanted to create his office while upstairs is a lounge area, complete with a stage area ready for performances.

Most of the house is accessible. Some steps are off limits due to safety issues. Several walls and floors are unfinished and many rooms appear as if construction just began. The bones are in place but the interior begs for completion. Tours aren’t air conditioned because of the infrequency of people visiting and the cost involved, but the house does have central air and heating and a working plumbing system.

Want to learn more? Dallas Morning News did a wonderful article on the house.

Stairs and stained glass

Living Room

Living room view of Lake Ransom Canyon

Robert Bruno in the photograph

Weird, Wacky and Wild South is written by travel and food writer Chere Dastugue Coen. She couldn't resist sitting in the living room window and snapping a selfie.

Ozark Guinness World Record chimes are gone, but unique Quigley Castle still attracting tourists

You can’t claim to have the world’s largest tuned wind chimes and not have me dropping at your doorstep. I turned on to Highway 23 south of Eureka Springs, Arkansas, to catch this site, listed as tops in the world by the Guinness Book of World's Records in 2006.

Alas, the chimes were gone, the store and gallery closed but the gazebo that once supported the chimes was still there, as was an unusual decorated station wagon and colorful kayak (I think it's a kayak) that appears to be a shrine of some kind. 

Apparently the wind chimes were part of the Celestial Windz Harmonic Bizaar and consisted of six tuned pipes that stretched almost 36 feet high and weighed 782 pounds. They were created by Ranaga Farbiarz, according to RoadsideAmerica.com.  

A bit disappointed but the day was young. Down the road was my second destination, Quigley’s Castle, dubbed “The Ozark’s Strangest Dwelling.” The story goes that Elise Fioravanti was an avid rock collector (a girl after my own heart) so when she married Albert Quigley, her rock assembly came with her. Quigley promised her not only a rose garden but a decent house crafted from the farm’s lumber. After several months, however, Elise got impatient living in the lumber shack and when Albert went to work on a June morning in 1943, Elise took her five children and they tore the house down.

They still had somewhere to live, however, since Elise and kids moved everything to the chicken house. As you can imagine, this got Albert on the move and he quickly began building Elise’s dream home.

Today, visitors can view what Elise had in mind at Quigley’s Castle — 28 windows that lets nature inside and walls filled with plants, some of which are now more than 65 years old, according to the web site. Remember those rocks? She covered the outside walls with them!

The house is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
       I arrived at Quigley’s Castle within the right time frame but never realizing they were closed on Thursday, so I went home doubly disappointed. But if you want a sneak peek at this creative home and the elaborate gardens Elise planted throughout the property, check out their web site and Facebook page, the latter of which contains remembrances from family members.

Cheré Coen is an award-winning travel writer specializing in the Deep South. She is the author of "Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History," "Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana" and "Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana" and co-author of "Magic's in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets." She also writes Louisiana romances under Cherie Claire, including "A Cajun Dream" and "The Letter." Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

Galveston's little teapot

            Drive down Seawall Boulevard to the West End of Galveston Island and you’ll be treated to the most unusual house, something akin to a silo top upside down.

            Called The Kettle House because it also resembles a teapot, the home is the cause of many a tourist causing traffic slowdowns on this stretch of highway just outside the Galveston Island State Park.

            According to “Weird Texas: Your Travel Guide to Texas’s Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets” by Wesley Treat, Heather Shades and Rob Riggs, the house was built by a man who once constructed storage tanks for oil companies. “The neighbors, some of whom were residents when the ‘Kettle’ went up, have seen the man but know little about him,” state the authors.

            If you search the Kettle House online you get much of the same, plus one story about how it was constructed to be a convenience store and abandoned.

            My source on the island told me that a man built the unique establishment and a hurricane arrived, preventing him from moving in. The owner passed away and his son now owns the curiosity. It’s believed that no one lives there because they couldn’t get permits to finish the building.
            I don’t know about you all, but I would give anything for a peek inside.